NEW DELHI: Indian states reported 6,339 new Covid-19 cases on Friday — the fourth peak in daily cases in as many days and the first time that more than 6,000 infections were recorded within 24 hours — on the back of another explosion of cases in Maharashtra, where 2,940 more people tested positive for the virus, the highest single-day increase in any state so far. India has recorded 1,23,081 coronavirus infections so far, with nearly a third of all active cases having been declared in the past four days alone, when 22,794 cases were added to the count. The Covid-19 toll on Friday was 140, with 63 deaths in Maharashtra, 29 in Gujarat and 14 reported in Delhi. Daily deaths have remained above 130 for six consecutive days. The country passed a significant positive milestone when the number of people who have recovered from the infection crossed 50,000 to reach 51,538, till last reports came in. With its highest addition in Covid-19 cases in a single day so far, Maharshtra’s total caseload stood at 44,582, more than three times higher than the second worst-hit state, Tamil Nadu, where 14,753 cases have been reported. This is the sixth day in a row that Maharashtra has added over 2,000 cases. Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope admitted that cases were increasing and said the focus was on reducing deaths. “We have issued orders to make available 80% of the beds in private and charitable hospitals for Covid-19 patients and have also capped treatment rates,” Tope said. He said numbers were rising as a large number of cases were coming in from densely-populated areas in the state, especially Mumbai. “For every 10 lakh population, Maharashtra has 332 cases and 11 deaths. Most of these deaths were of people with other co-morbidities, but we want to reduce that too,” Tope said. Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu’s chief secretary on Friday held a meeting with senior officials on ways to handle the flood of cases expected when the Covid-19 epidemic peaks in the state. With 786 fresh cases on Friday, the state’s tally is close to 15,000 and the toll reached 98, with four more deaths. Chennai recorded 569 cases as top health, finance, revenue and diasaster management officials brainstormed on increasing hospital beds, care centres, and quarantine facilities in the city. The epidemic was yet to peak in Delhi as well, which saw its highest single-day addition to the Covid-19 count at 660. The infection was also growing rapidly in states which have seen a large influx of returning workers in the past weeks. In Uttar Pradesh, after a spike in Covid cases among returnees in Basti and Barabanki, Jaunpur recorded 43 cases on Friday. According to district authorities, all these persons had returned on May 15-16 and had been quarantined since then. UP recorded 232 new cases in the past 24 hours, taking the overall Covid tally to 5,763. Health officials said that 2,259 were active right now. In Bihar, the coronavirus count crossed the 2,000 mark, with 179 more people testing positive. Odisha’s virus count climbed to 1,189 after 86 more patients tested positive. Of the fresh cases, 80 were reported from quarantine centres, one from a containment zone and five were locals. Jharkhand recorded 22 fresh cases of the novel coronavirus on Friday as migrants returning home in various districts of the state continued to test positive for Covid-19. In a concern for the health department, the state has recorded the last 100 cases in just five days.